14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is working on new features that would make updating Windows significantly easier and faster, and the upcoming Creators Update is the first major step towards this goal.
The Redmond-based software giant made two separate announcements regarding Windows updates this week, and both of them are equally important for Windows 10 users.
First and foremost, starting with the Creators Update, the firm is introducing an updating snoozing option which pretty much means that forced reboots will be gone. In the past, updates requiring a system reboot and eventually performing it caused frustration in the Windows community, and after years of criticism, Microsoft finally got the message and is fixing things with the Creators Update.
Users will be allowed to hold back the reboot for a maximum of 3 days and pick the most convenient moment to restart their systems and complete the install of new updates.
Additionally, the introduction of the Unified Update Platform (UUP) will make new OS releases smaller, and the insider builds that are currently shipped to participating users are already based on this new system.
With this technology, Microsoft is making an OS image smaller by only providing Windows 10 machines with the changes implemented since the last updates they received, so instead of getting a full image of the operating system, they’re getting a smaller one including only the missing updates. Although this system is currently being tested, the Creators Update will be the first to implement it, so retail users will only benefit from smaller OS releases starting with the Redstone 3 in the fall.
Cumulative updates
And while Microsoft is working on improving the update experience in Windows 10, there’s another thing that the company should be looking into in order to achieve this goal: the quality of cumulative updates.
The majority of cumulative updates shipped since the release of Windows 10 caused havoc on a number of systems, with many of them failing to install or leading to other issues post-installation.
In most of the cases, Microsoft didn’t provide a fix, but promised the next cumulative update would address encountered problems, though that rarely happened.
Cumulative updates are particularly important for Windows 10 users because they bring computers fully up to date in light packages, as they only include the missing patches from a system. Installing the latest cumulative updates makes a PC completely up to date.
The next cumulative updates for Windows 10 are projected to launch on March 14 when Microsoft ships Patch Tuesday fixes, so fingers crossed for a bug-free experience this month.